"We are proud that the completion of Land Rover University and its extensive curriculum completes our ambitious $12-plus million building program begun just two years ago," said Charles R. Hughes, president of Land Rover North America.

"Our 1996 decision to locate here, based on proximity to national, state and county government and the Port of Baltimore, as well as the quality of life and the area's work force, has been handsomely rewarded."

The new Land Rover University facility, built on a 22-acre site, is designed in a unique, open, airy style of a hunting lodge and contains classrooms, seminar rooms, a complete training shop with all standard Land Rover Centre equipment and two hands-on workshops. The site will also have its own dedicated off-road demonstration course, which will showcase the capabilities of the British-built Range Rover and Land Rover Discovery.

LRU offers a growing curriculum of courses to educate and develop retail and corporate team members in all aspects of the automotive business. LRU has also forged strong links with the University of Maryland University College and currently offers UMUC's EXCEL experiential learning program throughout the corporate and retail body. Eleven of the technical classes available to dealer technicians have been evaluated and approved to receive college credit recommendations.

"The university's non-traditional, state-of-the-art programs and the hands-on experience provided will help us remain on the cutting edge of developing our associates," said Jim Newell, vice president of LRU.

The university is the final phase of a three-phase building program, which began with the six-acre Land Rover Demonstration Course at Lanham Creek in 1996. The second phase was the company's 60,000 square foot new corporate headquarters, completed last April.

Sunny Days ahead
The state of Maryland has much to offer expanding and relocating companies. First, there's the Sunny Day Fund, begun in 1998, which offers loans at below-market interest rates. Eligible companies must be within the growth sectors targeted by the state and plan substantial job creation and retention. Two recent beneficiaries of Sunny Day funds have been the John H. Harland Co., the nation's second -largest check printer, which received a $1 million grant, and the Cosmetic Center, which received a $1.05 million package, including a $600,000 grant for its new 205,000 square foot distribution facility.

The Maryland Industrial Training Program (MITP) provides reimbursement grants for the development and training of new employees in firms locating or expanding their work force in Maryland. MITP reimburses companies for eligible costs associated with training programs customized to the work process.

F&M Manufacturing, which produces automated equipment for the defense, postal, and health care industries, is nearing completion of a new 80,000 square foot plant and headquarters in Westminster. F&M has had a presence in Carroll County since 1990 and will add as many as 80 jobs to its current total of 140. The company will receive a $75,000 work force training grant from MITP.

F&M is also eligible for State Job Creation Tax Credits. Maryland grants income tax credits to businesses in a variety of industries that create at least 60 new permanent jobs in a 24-month period, or 25 jobs in an area such as a state enterprise zone or a federal empowerment zone.

Baltimore advantages
Baltimore Gas & Electric provides a discounted economic development rate for qualifying expanding or relocating companies within its territory (Baltimore and seven adjacent suburban counties). In 1997, BG&E approved the discount rate application for 18 companies.

John McLaughlin, the company's president, said DAP was attracted to Baltimore largely because its airport has far more daily flights than Dayton's. Moreover, the company will have access to Washington's airports.

"It's an international business," McLaughlin said. "We travel both domestically and internationally. And travel has become more and more difficult. In addition to air service, we needed to get in a community where we thought it would be easy to recruit people. Baltimore came up as a natural choice. Most of these are professional jobs."

Last fall, Minnesota-based Metris Companies, Inc. opened a new, $10 million regional credit card operations and customer service center in White Marsh, just outside of Baltimore. Metris is an information-based direct marketer of consumer credit products, fee-based products and services, and extended service plans. The company employs more than 800 people nationwide and will employ approximately 400 in the White Marsh facility.

Las Vegas-based Sierra Health Services, which recently won a $1.2 billion contract to coordinate health care for military dependents, announced last fall that it would open a regional headquarters in Baltimore, and is looking to lease an 80,000 square foot building in the downtown area. The move is expected to produce about 300 new jobs in the Baltimore area.